Thursday, July 21, 2016

Hedayati: In Texas death row case, punishment does not fit crime

On Aug. 24,
2016, at about 6 p.m., the Texas Department of Criminal Justice plans to
inject a lethal dose of pentobarbital into Jeff’s veins to stop his
heart as punishment for the 1996 murder of Kris Keeran.

What makes
this execution controversial is that everyone, including law
enforcement and the prosecution, agrees that Wood, the driver of the
getaway car, did not kill Kris Keeran inside a Kerrville convenient
store on the morning of January 2, 1996. In fact, Daniel Reneau, the
actual and sole killer of Keeran, was executed for his crime on June 13,
2002.

Wood was convicted and sentenced to die under Texas’ arcane
felony-murder law, more commonly known as the “the law of parties” —
for his role as an accomplice to a killing, which he had no reason to
anticipate. Under the law of parties, those who conspire to commit a
felony, like a robbery, can be held responsible for a subsequent crime,
like murder, if it “should have been anticipated.” The law does not
require a finding that the person intended to kill. It only requires
that the defendant, charged under the law of parties, was a major
participant in the underlying felony and exhibited a reckless
indifference to human life. In other words, neglecting to anticipate
another actor’s commission of murder in the course of a felony is all
that is required to make a Texas defendant death-eligible.

Texas
is not the only state that holds co-conspirators responsible for one
another’s criminal acts. However, it is one of few states that applies
the death sentence to them. There have been only 10 people in the U.S.
executed under the law of parties — and five of those 10 executions were
in Texas. The last such execution was in 2009, where the Texas Board of
Pardons and Paroles (BPP) recommended, with a 5-2 vote, that Robert
Thompson’s death sentence be commuted to life. Rick Perry rejected that
vote and allowed the execution to proceed. Thompson was executed, even
though it was his co-defendant, Sammy Butler, who actually killed the
victim. Butler was given a life sentence.

When
the convenient store robbery took place, Wood was sitting in a car
outside, under the impression that Reneau was going into the store to
get “road drinks and munchies.” Although it is true that Wood and Reneau
had talked about robbing the store at the behest of the manager, Wood
had backed out of the idea. Wood had no idea Reneau was carrying a gun
and was going to attempt to rob the store. Wood also claims he was
forced to drive Reneau away from the crime scene at gunpoint. Wood’s
actions before the murder, namely sitting in a car unarmed and unaware
that another person was going to commit a robbery, does not constitute
reckless indifference to human life.

Even many supporters of
capital punishment agree that the Texas law of parties is wholly unfair.
In 2009, the Texas Moratorium Network and Wood’s family led an advocacy
campaign to end the death penalty for people convicted under the law of
parties. The Republican-controlled Texas House overwhelmingly voted in
favor of the bill. Unfortunately, the bill died in the Senate after Gov.
Perry threatened to veto it. Last year, the House Committee on Criminal
Jurisprudence voted again in favor of a bill to exclude the death
penalty as punishment in law of parties cases. However, the session
ended without an opportunity for a floor vote.

The Texas Board of
Pardons and Paroles should recommend that the governor commute Wood’s
death sentence to life in prison or a lesser term consistent with Wood’s
level of participation in the crime. They have made that recommendation
in similar cases, including those of Kenneth Foster in 2007 and Robert
Thompson in 2009.

Wood might deserve punishment for driving away
from the crime scene, but he does not deserve to die. He has never taken
a human life with his own hands.

Hedayati
is an attorney and a member of the Texas Moratorium Network Board of
Directors. For more information visit: SaveJeffWood.com.